Swimmer&#39;s motor



L. P. OSTEHHOUT.

SWIMMERS MOTOR.

AMLICATIQN man Nov.4,1921..

mama @et 31; 1921i;

lamented @et 3l, 'i923 Utility einen LYKAN 1P. OSTEBHUT, KENOSH, VVSCONSIN.

Application led November 4, 1321. Serial No. 512,743.

To all whom t may conce/Mt.'

Be it lrnown that I, LYMAN P. Os'rnnrroor, a citizen of the United States, residing at lienoshaa in the county ot Kenosha. and State of liisconsin, vhave invented a certain new and useful improvement in Swimmers Motors, or' which the following is a specification.

Bathers in open water whether able to swim or not have long feltthe need oi' some sort of mechanism by which they can propel themselves throughthe water with less eii'ort and Skill than is required in ordinary swimming.y The obj ect of this invention is to( pio vide a propelling` mechanism 'for use in the water adjacent to the person who desires to be propelled and means readily operatable by such person i'or driving the propellinfa` mechanism. Somewhat specilically the inventionconsists in placinga propeller or paddlewheel under the swimmer and provid.- ing in iront of the normal swimming posi` tion oit' the bather, a means by which he can readily by hand drive the propelling` mec-hani'sm. rlihe invention `further consists in many features and details or construction hereafter more fully set forth in the specilication and claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals indicate the same parts throughout the several views- Figure l is a' perspective View of a complete mechanism illustratin i` this invention in its preferred form. l

Figure 2 shows a bather or swimmer equipped with and using the mechanism ot Fig. l.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the motor mechanism.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional detail view ln the preferred form of mechanism illustrating the invention the man shown in Fig. 2 is supposed to be in the `water l() ot a river or lake of suiiicient size so that he desires ready propulsion a substantial distance over the surface of the water. Around the swimmers waist is a belt l2 preferably, but not necessarily, equipped with an air cushion 14 or other buoyant life preserver device adapted to rest under and sustain the body of the swimmer just as any conventional form of life preserver does. Rigidly attached to the belt l2 below the body of the swimmer and in the particular case here illustrated below the life preserver pad 14 is a vertically depending bracket or post 16 fore re terred carrying at its bottom a shattibearing 18 in which is journaled a rotatable shaft or rod 2O held against longitudinal movement with reference `te the post l@ by any suitable means such the collars 22. v

This shaift 2O shouid be ot suiiicient length so that when the operator is in the swimminnposition shown in the drawings the shaft is of sutlicient length. to reach from the post L8 up to a little boat or `float F24 oic any conH vement construction resting' in the water in' front oi the swimmer but `within reach of his hands as shown in Figure 2.

rlhe position ofshattQO which is below `the swimmer in the particular case here illustrated its end has rigidlyattached to it by any suitable means a rotatable propeller 26. n'The other end portion of the shaft is carried intwo space 1l-apait bearings 28 and 30, the iformer attached tothe rear end of the boat by any suitable means as for instance the scre 32, while the latter is in the particular tallic `stamping` 34 havingtwo depending- 'parallelarms 36 pivoted in shai't 46 carried by an upright standard 38 secured to the boat 24 by screws 40 of conventional form. Intermediate between the bearings 28 and is a. gear wheel 42 of substantial length but oi? less length than the distance between the bearings k28 and 30. rlhis gear is riaidlv attached by any suitable means to the shaft 20, slidable through the bearings 30 and bearing 28 except as it is detachably locked against such longitudinal movement by the collars 44.

`Journaled in the upright supports 38 here totore referred to and forming` the pivot 'for the arms 36 ot stamping 34 is a horizontal trz'msverse shaft-46 carrying wheel 48 with laterally projecting gear teeth 50 adanted mesh with the gear wheel 42. The tliiclroi the teeth 50 is not anywhere near as feat as the lengths oit the teeth on gear 42 'with the result that the operator may b loosening the tightening devices 44, heretoto, adjust the shaft longitudinaliy of theybolt a distance equal to the length of the gear teeth 42and thus allow for fittingP the device to swimmers of dierent sizes particularly as regards arm lengths.

The wheel 48 has rigidly attached to `it anv operating lever 5l and hand engageable handle 52 adapted to be graspedas shown in Fig. 2. .i

ln the operation ot the device the swimhere illustrated part of a me- `is possible 'for mer equipe himself with the mechanism as shown adjusting` the shait with re'lerence tothe boat in the manner described so that 'he can conveniently take hold of handle 52 and rotate the wheel i8. rl'hereupon he'has oniy "to vigorously;v rotate the wheel Li8 to drive the propeller 2S with suiiicient power to carry him wherever'he wants to go.

There issuiiicient play in the belt i2 and the other partsoi: the vmechanisnfi so that the swimmeicanr by hand slightly Vary the angularitjv of 'the boat 24; with reference to the l envth of his bedr and effect steerine' in this ment resorts.

Having thusdescribed my invention Awhat Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

v l. In mechanism oi the class described, a boator iioat adapted to rest in rwater in 'frontof a swimmer, a belt adapted to pass around the body ci such swimmer, a shaft journaled 'on the boat and journaled on the belt, a, propeller on that part of the shaft which is adjacent to the belt, a driving mechanism on the part of the shaft which is adjacent to the boat adapted to be manipulated by a swimmer wea "ing the belt, and means for adjusting the e'liective length of the shait between the boat and belt without disturbing the operation' of the propelling` mechanism.

2. ln mechanism of the class described, a lite saving belt for application to a swimmer, a shaft supporting,` bearing depending* from said belt, a shaft journaled in said bearing, a propelling. wheel on the sha1/it adjacent to the bearing, a fioator boat adapted to rest in the water in iront oi a swimmer in the water and wearing said belt, means on the boat supporting an adjacent portionof said shaiitj a rotatable gear wheel carried by the boat, means within reach of the swimmer for rotating` the gear wheel, a gear connection between said gear wheel and the shaft, and means iler adjusting-the'effective length of the shaft with reference to the boat without disturbing` the eilie'ctiveness of saidintermeshing gears for the purposes set forth;

t in wit-ness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed niy name in the presence of two witnesses. i f

' v LYMAN l?. OSTERHOUT. Vitnesses f MneNUs NORLANDER,

Enna. NORLANDER; 

